Higginbotham to Inaugurate Duke's John Hope Franklin Chair

A Duke Law School press release commences:

Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, the Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and of African and African American Studies and Chair of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, is the inaugural holder of the John Hope Franklin Chair in American Legal History at Duke Law School during the 2010-11 academic year.

Higginbotham holds the chair on a visiting basis. While at Duke, she is teaching a course on Race, Law, and Civil Rights History and a seminar exploring, through a study of biographies and autobiographies, how personal life experiences might influence the actions and works of lawyers and judges.

“We are delighted that Professor Higginbotham has agreed to serve as the inaugural holder of the John Hope Franklin Chair,” said Duke Law Dean David Levi. “It is only fitting and proper that Professor Higginbotham should be the first holder of this chair. Not only is she a distinguished historian of civil rights, but she is also Dr. Franklin’s close friend and co-author of the new edition of his important work, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans. Our students and faculty are eager to welcome her to Duke for the coming year.”

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